Religions.

Otago Witness, Issue 1418, 25 January 1879, Page 7

Religions.

■ 11 — * Mr Varley, the evangelist, will, it is understood, make a stay of three weeks in Dnnedin. Ec will commence hia meetings in the Queen's Theatre on the 26th. The Eev. Mr Byng, of Dunedin, lectured in the new theatre at Invercargill on tho 17th on " The Archives of the Universe." The lecture was a success. The Eev. John Eyley, of Otepopo ; the Eev J. G-. Paterson, of Invercargill ; and tbe Eev. Donald Eoss, of Queenstown, delivered Evangelistic addresses on Sunday evening at the Queen's Theatre. Mr D. Wright presided, and Mr T. B. Low led the choir. There was a full attendance in all parts of tbe theatre, and the addresses of the speakers were very attentively listened to. The Eev. Dr Eoseby, at the Congregational Church on Sunday eveninjy, spoke on the question of the introduction of Bible-reading into our public schools. He advocated the reading, of the Bible in the schools, and gave it as his ; opinion that teachers might be trusted to select such portions of Scripture as were not of a doctrinal character. The annual meeting of tho parishioners of All Saints' took place on the 17th inst. The balance-sheet presented showed a falling off in the ordinary receipts of L 233 9 s GJ, and an increase in the ordinary expenditure of L 56 lGs Id, as compared with the previous year. The report attributes the former to thb exceptional circumstances in which tho parish has been placed. The schoolhouse adjoining the church had been purchased for L 215, and the section on which it Rtands has been presented to the church by Messrs J. and C. Allen, while the adjoining section has been sold by them to the Vestry _ at L6OO, which the report considers a low price. The parscnaere had been gold for L 1520, and a section in King street, subject to conveyance by the trustees, at L 975. After paying off mortgages amounting to L7OO, and certain charges, L 790 remained in band from sale of parsonage towards building a new one alongside the church. The appointment of the Eev. A. E. Ktchett wa9 alluded to, and approved by the meeting. Mr J. Asbcroft was appointed clergyman's churchwarden, and Mr A. D. Lubeckie parochial churchwarden, Mr W. H. Quick, treasurer, and the following gentlemen vestrymen for the ensuing year :— Messrs Graham, Hodgkins, Sydney James, E. M'Laren, Doughty, W. H. Quick, J. Watson, Eliott Eliott, J. Allen, and W. Greig. A very hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Eev. L. Moore, M. A., who had kindly taken charge of the parish during the temporary vacancy, for the very efficient manner in which he had performed the duties of his office, and was suitably acknowledged by Mr Moore. Votes of thanks wore passed to the retiring hon. treasurer, E. H. Leary, Esq., to Mr Doughty (hon. secretary), to Messrs J. and C. Allen for their very generous gift of land, aud to the organist and choir. Before his return to India in 1870, Dr French (now Bishop of Lahore) said:— l have a good hope of being allowed to spend the remaining term of my missionary life in watching over the growth of a native pastorate, and that in a part of the world whers the material to be wrought upon to this end is of the finest and noblest which the heathen world produces. Whether the Afghans be of the lost ten tribes or not, which is an impression gaining ground daily— being also their own national and deliberate conviction about themselves ; whether this be so or not, there is an energy and force of character, a muscular strength, iudomitable will, a capacity of thorough-bearing, patient perseverance, together with much practical shrewdness, penetration, mental activity, gifts of utterance, and a power of adapting themselves to other peoples and races, which seem to point them out as possessing no common qualifications for the work of evangelists.